April isn't leaving without a fight....

.......a snowball fight, that is!

  

Mom wasn't quite as much fun in the snow as Dad......

although I should get some credit for just being out in the snow even before coffee, right???

Ooooops.....good shot K-Rae.

Just for the record, you probably shouldn't turn your back on K-Rae.....ever......especially when she has a snowball!

Welcome to springtime in CO!

Wayt Family Portrait Slideshow

Photo credits: local photographer Vanessa Jergensen 
(Jergensen Photography) 

www.jergensenphotography.com 
Let me put a plug in for Vanessa for all you Grand Junction folks....
She was so incredibly patient with our girls and dog! We got digital copies of our portraits back in just one week and we are so pleased with the portraits!  She was so friendly to deal with both in person and on email. We highly recommend her and will be using her again next time we decide to get professional photos!

That being said---enjoy the slideshow....I put it together so quickly for free using Kizoa--try it sometime! You may need to give the slideshow a minute to load, scroll over black line on the lower part of the photo for music/sound option and to play full screen.

Wayt Fam Spring 2011 - making a free slideshow

Easter Advent Week

 Day 1: Palm Sunday

Activity: Triumphal Procession 
Before church this a.m., we read John 12:12-13, the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  As we were talking about Palm Sunday, Little Miss Mae went to her bedroom and got her pom-pom---"Pom" Sunday, according to her! She took her pom-pom to church and waved it wildly during the "Hosanna" song.  At church they gave the kids palm branches, so we had a triumphal procession at home too.

 Day 2: The Children Really Know Him 

Activity: Singing Praise Songs to Jesus with Friends

I tried to program Little Miss Mae's talker earlier today with the Hosanna song she loves....and somehow in the process of rushing to do this locked her talker on the songs page....We didn't figure this out until tonight, but her teacher said she sure sang a lot of Amazing Grace at school today. It must have taken some grace on her part to get through an entire day with only songs as a mode of communication! However, with all the singing, Little Miss Mae got a head start on today's advent activity. Our friends invited us over for the second night of Easter advent....worship and praise, and of course snacks and fellowship too! 
The girls were so excited all day about tonight's activity! Children are so uninhibited when they praise Jesus---He must smile down on them; we should learn from them....

Matthew 21:14-16

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

 ¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

   “‘From the lips of children and infants
   you, Lord, have called forth your praise’ ?”

Even baby "M" stayed awake to participate! (Our friends' little girl---we'd claim her in a heartbeat though!)

K-Rae making a tambourine

I think K-Rae may have met her match.....

Not sure if she ate any of the chocolate or just smeared it all over her face!

 Day 3: The Most Important Thing
Activity: Loving each other

During Jesus' last days on earth, he knew his time was short, so he used this time to teach about some of the most important things...."Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind.... & love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:37,29

For their ways to show love tonight, the girls chose to show love with their hearts.....K-Rae gave hugs, & Little Miss Mae used her talker to say "I love you." 

RyDaddy agreed to use his strength and mind to show me love---by figuring out what is wrong with our stroller and attempting to fix it...thus speaking my love language of "acts of service..." for more about the love languages, click here: (Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman)  ($4.00 amazon.com---so worth it if you aren't familiar with the love languages)

For our story time tonight we read Let's Celebrate Jesus on Easter.  This one is only $2.50 at amazon.com, and has been one of my favorites to use with the girls every Easter. I really like how this book talks about the fun childhood traditions of Easter....eggs, candy, new clothes, Easter baskets...

and uses those things to tie into what is truly important about Easter.

The first page says..."At Easter, I will decorate eggs with lots of bright colors....

but Jesus is the one who colors my world every day."

Jesus colored our world tonight....I sure love the sunsets here! 

The heavens declare the glory of God."  Psalm 19:1

  

Day 4: Jesus Teaches Us to Serve

Activity: "It's Time to Wash Feet," as Little Miss Mae said.

 

He wrapped a towel around his waist....poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples feet.  John 13:5

 Now that I, your Lord have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. John 13:14

( Yeah, I could get used to this!)

 Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it....saying "Take and eat; this is my body."  Matthew 26:26

 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying,

"Drink from it...this is my blood of the covenant, 

which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."  Matthew 26:28

Another great Easter resource: The Very First Easter

(Only $2 from amazon.com...this one covers all the highlights of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the ascension in a very child friendly manner), also available from amazon.com as a free Kindle edition!)

Day 5: Resurrection Eggs

Activity: An overview of the symbols of Easter

 At MOPS we made a set of "resurrection eggs," basically a dozen plastic eggs and each one contains a symbol of the Easter story and a Bible verse that corresponds with the symbol.

 






I asked Miss Laci who was helping us out tonight, to go through the resurrection egg activity with the girls.

Well, our sensitive Little Miss Mae couldn't make it through the activity and just broke down crying.... understandably so...it is so sad what was done to Jesus, and humbling to know he endured that for me.  Miss Laci just held her and let her cry awhile.

Despite the sadness, Miss Laci did manage to get some pics for our blog and I located a site that has ideas for the resurrection egg items, if you want to make a set yourself.Click here for Resurrection Egg List (scroll down through site, list is at end of page). As you can see, K-Rae thoroughly enjoyed the activity and was her usual rambunctious self! 

  

Day 6: A garden, a cross, a tomb 
Activity: Creating a beautiful garden

Day 7: The Resurrection Story  

Thank you Aunt Paula for sending us the magnetic resurrection story....it made a great culminating activity for our Easter week, and we were able to use it when we taught Sunday School a couple of weeks ago too!  Anyone wanting to order a copy for next year can check out this link: Story of the Resurrection Magnetic Set

Silly girls at the end of a fun Easter Advent Week! Happy Easter!  HE IS RISEN!

Cake Pops

Six years old today....and what did she want for her treat at school?  Cake pops!  She had been introduced to these novelties by Auntie Sara earlier this year, and then found a picture of them and requested them....yes, 24 of them....how could I resist this smile....

 So K-Rae helped me bake a cake....according to package directions.....We let that cool completely for a few hours.

Then we crumbled up that pretty cake and added a good glob of frosting (ended us using about 1/3-1/2 the tub) and mixed that in well. 

We shaped the mixture into ping-pong size balls, and put them on a tray lined with parchment paper in the freezer overnight.  Next day we melted 12 cubes of almond bark in the microwave, stuck sucker sticks in the balls, dipped them in almond bark and sprinkled on confetti type sprinkles.

 

 

 

Two days of prep later......cake pops! 

Yes, she loved them!  Totally worth it!

Teddy Bear Tea Party

Oh yes....

We had Little Miss Mae's 6th birthday celebration this weekend,

not sure who was more excited about the party....

Little Miss Mae or Mom!

Little Miss Mae chose to wear her new smock dress
that Meemaw made her...

and was so excited that it matched a purse made for her 

by Meemaw on another occasion.

K-Rae chose to "take over" the new 

Hello Kitty jacket that was also in the 

birthday package for Little Miss Mae from Meemaw. 

She got sat on for that!

I suppose there probably isn't anything too much more entertaining than spending a couple of hours with 10 little girls...

The girls had quite the fun time playing dress-up!

K-Rae picked out her outfit and said she was a "baker-mama!"

Pretty Princess

The girls even talked Little Miss Mae into dressing-up---it's usually not really her "thing." 

Awwwwww......

This pink dress was the hit....and had to be tried on by most of the girls!

Pretty in Pink!

Pink fairy princess

The favorite party game was a silly game the girls invented themselves.... I'm really not sure why I didn't think of this game!  (Turning Little Miss Mae's "Time-Out" hourglass timer over and running out of her bedroom screaming when the sand ran out....) 
You can check out the timer game on this video clip.....keep in mind it involves 10 little girls screaming!  As you'll see.....K-Rae wasn't quite sure what to think of this game......!  I don't think she quite got the idea of what the girls were doing!

"Musical teddy chairs" was fun too, and a bit more structured than the timer game! 

Little Miss Mae's animal of choice for her teddy bear tea party was her beloved "Fuzzy," 
who has held a special place in her heart for a few years now.  
She had to find an extra special outfit for Fuzzy to wear to the party...
from her keepsake box of baby clothes.....
No, I didn't mind digging through all the clothes with her 
and trying each dress on the bear....
Yes, this little outfit used to be hers!

 

We couldn't have pulled off an event like this without a helper....

thanks Ms. Laci for making the day extra special!

Not sure if I had more fun doing the Hokey Pokey, or if the girls did......I had small flashbacks of my days as a kindergarten teacher!

Yes---the iPad2 got here just in time....
right in the middle of the party, just before we opened presents....
pretty impeccable timing on the shipment! 

Thank you Sampa, Meemaw, Grandpa, Creamie, Great-Grandma, and Grandma Tree
for helping make this gift possible!

No, it's not everyday a 6 year old gets an iPad for a birthday present, 
but, we're very excited about the communication possibilities Little Miss Mae
will have with this device---hopefully it will replace her rather cumbersome and insanely difficult to program device (Vantage) she is currently using for a "talker."  Now we just have to get the app for the iPad, the one we've been waiting for (Touch Chat by Silver Kite) came out just 4 days ago!  

And for dessert.......

Cherry Cheese Cakes .....

my favorite too, 

 no, I didn't mind serving those, 

and had a great helper to make them!

And fun was had by all!  
Happy 6th Birthday Little Miss Mae---
and thank you to everyone who helped make it so special for her!